INDONESIAN ISLAMIC ACADEMIC LIBRARIES AMIDST THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A SOCIAL MEDIA OBSERVATION

Abstract

From a historical perspective, Islamic libraries have a unique role, starting from being a center for learning, research and translation up to being a hub of technological innovations. As technology develops, they are transformed into modern libraries that are adaptive to technology. Since the pandemic hit Indonesia, Islamic libraries, especially in the academic realm, have also been adapting to provide extensive library services to their patrons. This study aims to describe the role of Islamic academic libraries in Indonesia amid the pandemic. These observations were focused on the social media owned by the library, specifically their Instagram (IG) accounts. Three IG accounts of Islamic academic libraries in Indonesia were observed in this study: UIN Sunan Kalijaga Library, UII Library, and UMY Library. The three libraries were considered to represent the characteristics of Islamic academic libraries in Indonesia. This study will be observing the volume and variant of the libraries’ posting materials during the last three months (September-November 2020) in Instagram. Aside from this, user engagement will be measured using analisa.io analytics. In addition, this study will describe the role of Islamic academic libraries in Indonesia in socializing and disseminating the dangers and prevention of COVID-19 which can serve as a model for evaluation for other libraries against the pandemic.